I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with setting up a remote controlled device. I want to make a basic wooden platform that will be about 6 inches in diameter, and about 1 inch thick. I want to be able to set it up so that I can control it from some kind of a web or PC based interface and just turn it, even if I could just find a way to sync it to my PC and then I could make a web UI for it myself.

Anyone have any experience that could help me get started with this project? I would appreciate any tips.

Arno v. Lumig

I would do it by getting a small, cheap microcontroller with at least 1 analog output, and an simple USB or parallel port interface. The analog output can then be used to control the platform. If you want a web interface you might want to try to hack an old router that has USB support so you can use it as a web server for the interface.

A web interface will be harder then a simple PC program though, so I'd recommend that. If you're looking for microcontrollers you're best off using a Microchip PIC or an Atmel AVR. There are plenty of guides out there on the web

KHO

Would I really need a web server just to give it a simple command of left or right?? All I want is to have a round base that I could have spin in 360 degree circles left or right. I can understand the microprocessor to connect it to usb, but if I'm gonna have to hack out a router or run it over like an apache server or something then I would be better off just connecting it to an IR remote lol.

(thank you for your response btw, didn't know if I would get one here or not haha, this is my first project like this so im kinda lost)

Arno v. Lumig

Yea well, you said something about a web interface so that was my solution to that problem...

You could just use a remote, of course... There is also wireless USB and bluetooth, but I'm not sure how easy it is to use a uC to work with that..

FunDa

Arno v. Lumig wrote:

I would do it by getting a small, cheap microcontroller with at least 1 analog output, and an simple USB or parallel port interface. The analog output can then be used to control the platform. If you want a web interface you might want to try to hack an old router that has USB support so you can use it as a web server for the interface.

A web interface will be harder then a simple PC program though, so I'd recommend that. If you're looking for microcontrollers you're best off using a Microchip PIC or an Atmel AVR. There are plenty of guides out there on the web

any isdea how much the whole thing would cost ? Would it be worth doing it for a science project in high school ?

Arno v. Lumig

A uC with all components that are required to program it (connect it to a computer etc) wil just cost like $40, but you'd also need some kind of motor to rotate the platform, but I have no idea what that would cost. Using a router as web interface would probably add another $40, but you might not need an uC then (depends on what router you have).

I am doing a microcontroller project for school right now (we're creating a robot that can play football on a table-tennis sized table.). The cost so far has been around €60, just for the electronics. That is pretty much what your project would cost aswell...